Embrace Your Isekai Fantasies // Locked to mountainfoggedlotus

[fogboundcrow]

This is it! Raven's chance to help the younger Ren experience his powers as a Persona user. They can fight together. Explore together. It's going to be great.

But the Metaverse is too unpredictable, and the Dark Hour fairly dangerous. So, naturally, the TV world is the best bet.

Thus, Raven leads his young compatriot to the Junes Electronics Department. How convenient that there's a little rack of glasses near the flatscreen TVs with a cute Teddie cutout nearby.

Raven glances at the selection. "You'll want to take one of these before we step inside. It'll help you see through the fog."

Comments

[fogboundcrow]

"Try again...? It resists all elements, but physical should be—"

The hand snaps its fingers, launching a Bufu spell that Raven swiftly intercepts.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"Eeesh," Ren flinches back from the Ice damage. No thank you! "Uh, slash!"

Another lunge and--

"C'mon!! Seriously??"

--another dodge.

[fogboundcrow]

"I can help, if you want, but I don't want to steal your victory." He will, however, intercept another Bufu spell.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"I just wish it'd hold-- still!" Another failed slash. "Wormwood! Eiha!"

[fogboundcrow]

Good news: The Eiha hits.

Bad news: it does barely any damage. The golden hand glances around, like it's about to turn tail and run.

Nonetheless, Ren deserves another try. "I know you can do this!"

C'mon, Ren! It's all up to you!

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"Yeah!!" Ren shakes himself off, preparing to charge. "I can--"

...Eat a critical Bufu and get frozen.

As the Golden Hand escapes.

[fogboundcrow]

Damn it! It's tempting to pursue, to blast a Megidolaon at that wretched Shadow, but Ren takes priority.

So... fine. Raven takes his beam sword and strikes the ice, careful to only hit it hard enough to free Ren without harming him.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Ren is...kind of stunned. "Ow," he says, once he's freed enough to speak. "Cold..."

[fogboundcrow]

"Sorry about that. Those hands can be a perpetual pain in the ass if you don't have ball lightnings or Almighty attacks." But he places a hand on Ren's shoulder for support. It's okay.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Ren blinks. Several times over. And shivers. "I need a support Persona."

[fogboundcrow]

"That was why I recommended Pixie, but it's a fairly common card in Shuffle Time." There, there. Just let him switch Personas real quick. "Kushinada!"

A woman with a lot of combs adorning her attire materializes, showering Ren with Dirama.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"Hi there," Ren blinks at the new Persona. Raven really can just switch them out so quickly...

[fogboundcrow]

A warm, almost maternal laugh flutters out of the Persona. "Rest easy, young one. We all start somewhere."

And then she vanishes in a burst of sparkles.

Raven can't help but chuckle at Ren's reaction. "Gather enough Personas, and you can fuse some fairly powerful ones. It just takes a little time."

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Wow, that's impressive...Ren watches her flutter out of existence before turning back to Raven. "I should get on that," he nods. "Wormwood won't cover me from everything...need to start thinking strategy."

[fogboundcrow]

"Well, this dungeon isn't a terrible place to acquire new Personas." Hmm, but how to tackle it... Raven takes his chin in hand, humming. "What we could do is down a great deal of Shadows and keep triggering Shuffle Time to allow you to accrue more Personas, which you can then train and use for fusion back in the Velvet Room. It may be faster if I utilize my Persona abilities, but I think with enough patience, we can get you a bit more diversity."

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Ren shivers, his body still trying to fend the lingering feeling of being frozen off. "Sounds good to me!"

[fogboundcrow]

"Here." Raven steps closer and... hugs, because Ren is cold, and he clearly needs a little warmth. A little blush creeps across his cheeks, but it's for a good cause! "We shouldn't go anywhere until you've warmed up."

1/2

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Ren freezes. Not in the literal sense, like, not in the "encased in a sheet of ice" way, but in the other way. Y'know, the "all my muscles are locked up and my mind is throwing an error" way.

He may or may not make some noises as his brain tries to figure out what's happening.

2/2

[mountainfoggedlotus]

He feels...something warm glows inside him, at Raven's touch. It doesn't make him scared, like other times. It makes him happy.

Ren relaxes in bits and pieces in Raven's arms. This isn't scary or wrong at all. Raven's too strong to be scary, and too smart to be wrong.

[fogboundcrow]

Okay. Okay, Ren is fine with this? That's good. Then... Raven will stay put, letting Ren warm up. "Just let me know when you're ready. There's no rush, though."

[mountainfoggedlotus]

Mmmm..."You're warm."

[fogboundcrow]

"Well, I'd hope so, since I'm trying to warm you up." Heh... It's nice, though. Last year, he would have never been caught dead offering hugs so freely, but now...

Well, times change.

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"You smell nice, too."

Wait.

"I mean. Uh. You smell better than. Uh...the stuff around us..."

Ugh. I'm so weird.

[fogboundcrow]

Pfft. Though Raven chuckles, it's not a mocking laugh by any means. "Well, I did make sure to shower first thing this morning."

He pauses.

"You also smell better than our surroundings."

[mountainfoggedlotus]

"I guess it's not a high bar to clear...maybe my next physical weapon should be a bar of soap."